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7 Bad Habits that Make You Lose Sales

A bad habit is like a slow poison: it starts slowly and eventually damages everything, including sales figures, revenues, and profits.

It prevents you from accomplishing your goals and wastes your time and energy.

But, you might not even realize what bad habits you have that could become fatal later on. And, if you do not know what mistakes you are making, you cannot fix them.

So, read on because we have listed the top seven bad habits that make you lose sales.

#1 Not Listening Carefully

Listening is the key to success, but sales reps often do not listen to what the customers want and what problem they want to solve.

They focus more on hard pitching their products or services and why they think it is right for the customers, without addressing the buyer’s needs or answering their specific questions.

This creates the impression that they are not serious about solving the customer’s actual problem and just want to close sales by making them scapegoats.

So, instead of jumping into your sales presentation or bombarding the customers with sales pitches, first try to understand their needs and the qualities they are looking for in a service provider. And, most importantly, ask questions that will help you present your solution better.

#2 Tardiness

Keeping customers waiting is the most brazen display of contempt for their time. Tardiness can thus damage all the hard effort you have put in to build a successful relationship with your potential customer and you may lose sales. Yes, your flight could be delayed and there could be traffic, but using such reasons will make you look unprofessional.

So, focus on building a reputation for being the sales professional who arrives early and see the magic happen.

#3 Not Showing Up After Contract Signed

Sales reps often promise customers that they will always be available even after the sale.

But, a sales rep’s availability, responsiveness and attention take a dramatic dive once the deal has been made which infuriates the customers. So, they might not refer you to anyone else.

This means zero sales through referrals, which is a powerful cost-effective channel for lead generation. A referral business closed and converts 70% of the time. Imagine how many sales you could lose by not maintaining post-sales relationships.

#4 Not Following Up

Another bad habit is not following up when you say you will. This gives the impression that the customers are unimportant and that you do not keep your word.

This bad habit will make you lose credibility and trust which will lead to lower chances of closing a sale. So, whether it is an email, phone call or meeting, follow ups should be your top priority.

#5 Not Doing Company Research

One of the biggest reasons why you may be losing sales is that you do not have thorough knowledge of the buyer’s business. And, if you do not understand the business, you cannot offer a real solution for the problem. Eventually, the customer will prefer to not deal with you.

Do extensive research about the company’s domain, services, competitors, and potential pain points and create a foolproof pitch they cannot ignore.

#6 Using Fancy or Technical Terms

There are many sales pros who love to describe their products or services with fancy adjectives to lure the buyers. But, it often fails and they eventually lose sales.

This is because the terms you use could be well known internally, but foreign to the customers. And, if they do not understand you, they will think that you are not the right fit for them. So, it is important to describe your products or services with vocabulary that your potential customers will know.

#7 Using Affordability as a Primary Advantage

No matter how cost effective your product or service is, there will always be someone who can beat your price. And, sales reps often make the mistake of using affordability as the primary reason why the customer should buy their products or services.

The product’s or service’s value should come before pricing. Using knowledge about your potential buyer’s specific requirements, build a mountain of advantages that will easily tower over the price you present later.

Do you have any bad habit to share? Please feel free to leave your comments below and thanks for reading!

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Ohad Oren

Ohad Oren is Co-Founder and COO of ONDiGO. Prior to ONDiGO he Co-founded several start-ups. Ohad has years of experience in Sales and Business Management. You can follow him on twitter on @OrenOhad
View all posts by Ohad Oren